Beware the game that deletes files

Posted on 4 Nov 2009 at 10:35

Symantec has warned of a new security threat to Mac users, posing as a classic video game.

The malware—Trojan.Loosemaque—is designed to look like a Space Invaders/Galaga style game. However, for every alien ship you destroy, the trojan deletes a file from the home directory.

Symantec says that online games are increasingly becoming a target for virus creators, and this threat shows it’s a possibility regardless of the platform.

In this case the author of OSX.Loosemaque actually informs people on his website that the game deletes files.

“It seems that he has created this game/threat as some sort of artistic project,” says Symantec’s Ben Nahorney. “The aliens are your files and there are consequences for ‘killing’ them.”

However there’s nothing stopping someone with more malicious intentions from modifying the trojan and passing it on to unsuspecting users.

Symantec has posted a video of the trojan actively deleting files as the game is played.

Author: Simon Aughton

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